Make the police act: bus company CEO's shocking letter to Ramaphosa
There has also not been any public condemnation of the violence against Intercape. Not by yourself or anyone from your government. The shootings of Intercape's drivers were not met with messages of condolences from any minister or MEC. No one visited the families or came to the hospital, or attended the funeral. There have been no serious undertakings to resolve this scourge of co-ordinated violence. Instead, the 'lamentable indifference' was replaced by retaliation. As we were winning in court, there was a sudden clampdown on our buses. Drivers were being pulled off the road by the SAPS under the guise of checking clearly lawful permits, only to be released a few hours later. They showed no regard for the passengers, including the elderly and the young, or those awaiting their arrival.
The court found that criminals 'were apparently emboldened by the lack of visible policing', that the action plan developed by your government in response to a court order was so deficient that it would 'send the unfortunate message to perpetrators...that the authorities do not intend to use their extensive statutory powers to quell the violence', and that because this is the message sent by your government's failures it may even have been 'better to have no action plan at all'.
No-one in your government has been held accountable for this continued failure. No-one has been disciplined for allowing criminals to terrorise innocent people while millions in public funds were wasted fighting against justice.
Our plight is shared by millions of South Africans. Criminals are winning everywhere. There are mafias operating in broad daylight, in the construction industry and elsewhere. Our fight has not only been for Intercape and its passengers, but for every person and business that has the right to be protected from criminals. As an aside, your government tried to convince the court that we were acting out of self-interest. The judge had to put them straight and found that this 'unfounded assertion' was merely 'used by the SAPS as an excuse for not performing their constitutional duties'. The court's exasperation was clear when it found that '[i]t boggles the mind why it is so difficult for a law enforcement agency to appreciate that when armed assailants take potshots at moving buses, deleterious consequences inevitably ensue'.
We have faced apathy and retaliation, while the criminals, the ministers, the MECs, and the SAPS generals continue to fail in their constitutional duties with impunity. The courts have already conducted the inquiries. The evidence is before you. Mr President, please hold your ministers, commissioners, and MECs accountable. Fire them. Recover the wasted money from them personally and use it to protect the citizens of this country.
These legal victories achieved by Intercape thus far are a testament to our determination to safeguard our passengers and to hold the South African government and police accountable for its blatant disregard for human lives and the rule of law. However, these victories offer little comfort when the violence continues, and justice remains elusive.
Mr President, I urge you to uphold your oath of office. Restore order. Enforce the law. Take decisive action against those who have failed the people of South Africa. Surely, your vision of 'all are equal before the law' must also apply to those within your government.
Intercape is but one example of the cost of inaction. The true burden of your leadership failures is borne by every citizen in this country.
Sincerely,
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
6 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Costs may reduce voter registration to one weekend before 2026 elections
The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has warned that the ongoing fiscal challenges could limit registration opportunities for the 2026 local government elections and potentially give South Africans only one chance to register. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said on Thursday the IEC expected the registration weekend to be in June 2026. However, he noted there was no guarantee there would be a second chance to register. 'The reason for that is financial. We are in discussion with the National Treasury so it may well be that ahead of the elections there may be one general registration weekend,' he said. 'Our preference is two but we all know the fiscal position of the country.' Mamabolo was part of the IEC delegation that addressed members of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg on the opening day of its multi-stakeholder engagement in the province. He confirmed that electronic voting will not be implemented next year, although there were policy discussions about using it in the future. The commission added that it was taking steps to prevent a repeat of the technical problems it experienced in the 2024 elections but reiterated that its systems were not compromised and the national elections maintained their integrity despite those setbacks. Mamabolo said the 2024 elections were relatively peaceful in comparison to past elections, despite being the most competitive and witnessing a significant increase in tension and legal disputes. 'The commission had to defend no less than 80 applications in various courts but we have to compliment the fact that the prevailing environment was fairly peaceful in comparison with previous iterations of elections.' The complaints came mostly from the technical challenges the commission experienced, mainly the functioning of the voter management devices (VMDs) in the voting stations and the 'crash' of its results dashboard. The IEC had in 2024 introduced, for the first time, independent candidates as part of the evolving electoral framework. However, Mamabolo reiterated that their ICT system was not hacked and the elections met the international standards of free and fairness, despite those challenges. The IEC's elections results dashboard was infamously interrupted during the counting of the national and provincial votes. Addressing the interruption of the election results dashboard, Mamabolo reiterated that the results were secured. Mamabolo also reflected on the 'suboptimal' performance of the VMDs on election day last year, saying the commission was also unhappy because it led to long queues and created a lot of of consternation at voting stations He said there were five applications (apps) that were operational in the VMDs but one of them, the voters roll app, experienced a glitch that caused it to the create multiple records for a single voter when their ID was scanned, instead of capturing a single record and sending it through the network. 'As that one transaction replicated over many times, sometimes as many as 20,000 times, it created a backlog between the local machine and our application pulls in the network.' He said the IEC has put measures in place to prevent future problems as they prepare for the 2026 elections. 'We have identified that problem, ameliorated it and, at the moment, we are procuring an external independent tester to test the application from the code itself - its transmission to the network - and we should be able to give the executive summary of that testing to political parties in the party liaison committee so that you can be assured that the testing has happened by an independent company and what the outcome is.' He urged political parties to work on their candidates' lists early because the commission cannot extend the cut-off date. 'The courts have repeatedly said the IEC can't unilaterally change the date of the election timetable so when the date for submission of candidates list is set, it can't be changed unless there is a tsunami or similar natural disaster. Parties must work on that with a view to around June/July (2026).' The proclamation date is expected to be around July from co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa.
TimesLIVE
7 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Maimane endorses national dialogue as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane has called on South Africans to take up the opportunity presented by the national dialogue and participate in reshaping the country's morale. He believes this is a crucial moment for the country to discuss its future as a maturing democracy. 'Now, 31 years into our democracy, it is important for South Africans to forge a consensus about what the country looks like. The question on the table is, who is on trial? Some say the government is on trial, and yes, because the government has demonstrated huge governance failures, on the economy, safety of citizens and in many other areas.' However historically troubled the government has been, Maimane says, the citizens need to introspect and reflect on their own contribution to wrongdoing in the country. 'At the same time, the moral fabric of our society is also on trial. It cannot be that the fault resides in government when you see parents murdering their own children and young people falling pregnant, when we knowingly vote for leaders who are not ethical.' Maimane says the dialogue comes at an important moment and everyone should work to ensure its success. 'This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We mess this national dialogue up, be assured that we will not be able to hold another one. Therefore it is within that context that we have to do everything possible to ensure that the process is not politicised, that it is not corrupted and that ultimately the right people are in the room to have the conversation. 'I hold the view that the CEO who works in Sandton must be able to interact with the entrepreneur from Alexandra. So that we forge a new pathway as a country for the next 31 years. It is within that, where we have to say that our nation is on trial when we think about the national dialogue.' Maimane called on the 'disgruntled legacy foundations' such as the Thabo Mbeki Foundation to attend the dialogue, despite their concerns. 'I am appealing to the foundations, that while they may have challenges with the process, I am inviting them back into the fold. They must come back. I want to equally say to South Africans that we all have to ensure that this process works.' Maimane said he had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa and finance minister Enoch Godongwana in a bid to make the intervention non-partisan and as inexpensive as possible. 'I asked the ministry of finance for a thorough funding plan and accountability structure. South Africans are not represented in a lekgotla or anywhere else. They are represented in parliament. Godongwana responded extensively about what the national dialogue would effectively cost. 'In essence, he commits that coming out of the contingency reserve fund, the country will spend R485m. This is not a small amount, it is half a billion rand technically.' The parliament portfolio chairperson on appropriations said he would put it into context using the Presidency's budget vote for comparison. 'The Presidency's budget is below a billion rand. When you say you are going to spend half a billion rand, you must understand it is significant. 'What could this money have done? It could have at least employed 2,972 teachers at a full-year salary, feeding around 497,000 learners for a 200-day school year, you could be building just over 2,400 RDP houses, you could be providing 48,500 youth with learnerships, or even 24,250 start-ups with R20,000 grants.' Maimane says he is comforted by Godongwana's promise to safeguard the financial aspect of the process. 'The commitment from the minister is that we are going to use some of the money that was allocated to Nedlac. The municipalities will make their contributions in kind and they will pursue other in-kind donations from in the private sector. 'We will be there to make sure that each and every rand is spent correctly.'
The Herald
8 hours ago
- The Herald
Police probe murder of rugby player in Kariega
A 21-year-old club rugby player was shot dead in Kariega on Wednesday night. Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said a case of murder was under investigation. The body of Allezahr 'LangNaweek' de Bruin, who played for the Gardens Rugby Football Club as a lock, was discovered in an outbuilding on a property in Grootboom Street, Greenfields, Kariega, at about 8.25pm. He had several gunshot wounds to his head and upper body, Beetge said. 'The motive and identities of the suspects are being investigated.' He said the police were appealing to anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the investigating officer, detective Constable Adams on 071-475-2283 or Crime Stop on 08600-10111. Information can also be communicated via the MySAPS app. All information will be treated with the strictest confidence. The Herald
